WFU Employees continue winter ice storm clean up

In all, the campus lost one ash tree on University Plaza (the Quad) that will have to be replaced and a few ornamental trees, including some magnolias and crepe myrtles. A number of trees fell in wooded areas around campus, and Bill Sides, director of Facilities Management, said the clean up of wooded areas, pruning of large campus oak trees and replacement of ornamental trees could take several years.

Many large oak trees lining Wake Forest Road and campus parking lots dropped large limbs that caused more than $1,500 damage to about 18 private and university-owned vehicles. In an incident Friday, a tree limb fell, knocking over a university-owned emergency call box in Parking Lot W3, next to the Information Systems Building.

Employees with the university’s Facilities Management Department worked through the night Wednesday, salting and clearing walks and streets in preparation for Thursday’s Founders’ Day Convocation. As the ice turned to rain and started to taper off, many employees worked late Thursday and Friday in an effort to cut and clear fallen tree limbs. About 40 to 50 employees worked through the weekend and Bill Sides, director of Facilities Management, said Monday that there is a possibility that crews will have to work this weekend.

“The major damage that we received was to our trees,” Sides said. “We had a lot of limbs come down off the bigger oak trees, and we are working now to clean up the mess and remove the dangerous limbs that are still hanging overhead. On Friday, we had to do a lot of dragging and hauling to keep the roads open because the limbs kept falling as fast as we could clean them up.”

Faculty Apartments and the Admissions Office lost power Thursday morning and service was not returned to the apartments until Saturday and admissions regained power Sunday. The main campus did not experience any power outages because several years ago the university had an electric substation built to supply power. In addition, high voltage distribution lines on the main campus are buried to prevent outages caused by falling trees and limbs. Facilities Management was able to supply some heat to Faculty Apartments over the weekend.

Campus street closings were minimal because crews worked long hours to keep up with fallen trees and limbs. Faculty Drive was closed for about a day because a large tree fell on a power line. The power company gave university crews permission to cut and clear the tree Friday night. The university owns one wood chipper and two more have been rented to assist with the clean up. The mulch will be reused on campus, Sides said. The clean up at off-campus, university-associated properties like Reynolda House and Gardens and Graylyn Conference Center, among others, will be completed by outside contractors with assistance from some university employees.

“One of the good things about this storm was that it wasn’t very cold,” Sides said. “We didn’t have to deal with frozen pipes or anything like that. I was really surprised at how fast the ice went away Friday. I think most of it was gone by lunch.”